Tuesday, 18 June 2024

Public transport fares

Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) presented a petition bearing 79 signatures:

The petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council that public transport fees for international students in Victoria needs to be reduced. Domestic students are eligible for a reduced fare, however, international students including New Zealand citizens have no eligibility to claim a reduced fare and are forced to pay high amounts of money towards public transport just to get to their university daily. Current transport fares in Victoria are $10 dollars full fare and $6.60 for concession. This equates to a minimum of $70 per week solely towards public transport. While there are weekly passes available, students who study full time and work part time do not have monetary means to commit to such a cost. Non-domestic students are put under severe financial strain because of Public Transport Victoria (PTV) rates and fines and are unable to manage the cost even if they wanted to. Additionally, the free tram zone in the Melbourne CBD before the Swanston Street RMIT campus is an area where PTV officers penalise students for riding one stop and not touching on.

The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council call on the Government to initiate a reduction of daily Public Transport Victoria fares for non-domestic students in order for students to be able to consistently pay fares with a higher level of compliance and reduce financial strain while studying in Victoria and extend the Free Tram Zone radius to the University of Melbourne CBD campus so that students can commute to their campus with ease.